Hawthorn stopper Liam Shiels ready to step up into midfield

Liam Shiels says he’s ready to take the next step and become an established midfielder for the Hawks. Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Source: Getty Images

HAVING spent the past two seasons serving his “apprenticeship” trying to nullify some of the best players in the game, Liam Shiels is ready to lead Hawthorn’s next generation of midfielders.

With warriors Sam Mitchell, Shaun Burgoyne and Luke Hodge nearing the end of their glittering careers Shiels, 22, represents the future of the Hawks’ on-ball brigade.

He had a blistering pre-season, averaging 27 disposals and eight contested possessions while kicking six goals in three matches and will head into Saturday’s Round 1 clash against Brisbane at Aurora Stadium brimming with confidence.

The emergence of Will Langford appears to have freed up Shiels to become an out-and-out ball winner, with coach Alastair Clarkson using Langford as a run-with player during the NAB Challenge.

Shiels has spent time on the likes of North Melbourne’s Brent Harvey and last year’s Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett, believing the experience will only benefit his own game.

“‘Clarko’ hasn’t said it officially, but the first three NAB Cup games I’ve been able to go out there and get my own footy, which is great,’’ Shiels told the Mercury.

“It helps because Will Langford has played a bit of a shutdown role, he also has the capacity to win his own footy.

“But ‘Clarko’ hasn’t said it officially, so we will just wait and see how it progresses through the season.

“That was my role for the last couple of years and I was happy to play that if it helped the team.

“I think I’ve learnt a lot from playing on the likes of Boomer Harvey and Gary Ablett, I’ve done my apprenticeship in a way, learning from those blokes on where to run and how to get the footy.

“I’ll be looking to take my game to the next level this year.”

In last year’s grand final, Shiels applied nine tackles against Fremantle, the equal-third most by a Hawk for the entire season.

However an uninterrupted pre-season has allowed him to enter the new campaign in peak condition and break free from the lockdown roles.

“I worked pretty hard on my fitness over the pre-season, I’ve been lucky and stayed injury-free and been able to complete most of the training and running. That always leaves you in good stead for the season.

“The shutdown roles don’t get as much publicity in the media but as long as I was playing my role for the team and Clarko was happy with it then it was good.

“Internally my game [in the grand final] was viewed a little bit differently than it was externally.”

Although Hawthorn crushed the Lions in the opening NAB Challenge round by 131 points, Shiels isn’t reading too much into the result against what was a severely undermanned Brisbane outfit.